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Gender Binary in V for Vendetta by Zach Rolfs
Zach Rolfs Prof. Richards Gender Binary in V for Vendetta Textual Analysis 21 Jan. 2013 “Anarchy wears two faces, both creator and destroyer” (222). In order to create a new world, the current systems in place have to be dismantled. It is not only the government that must be overturned, but also the previous ideologies and social constructions of the society. In Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, V ‘s defiance of the fascist political system is accentuated through his, and later Evey’s, rejection of the society’s strict gender binary . V and Evey’s rejection is made evident to the audience through their physical portrayal in the illustrations, their interactions with gendered characters, and the continuance of V’s ideology through Evey. The supporting characters of V for Vendetta closely follow the gender roles assigned to them. One of the first scenes presented to the audience is a case of gender violence . Evey is harassed by a group of male officials that threaten, “you’ll do anything we want and then we’ll kill you” (11). The bottom middle panel of the page focuses in on Evey’s terrified face as she realizes the danger she is in. The frame is the smallest one on the page, giving the appearance that she’s literally trapped and powerless between the larger panels. This appearance of helplessness and lack ofagency plays into the damsel in distress motif. Evey is no longer a person, but a hyper-sexualized object for the men to use as they please. This is not Evey’s only incident of sexual harassment, as she experiences it again with the Bishop. In addition to sexualizing women, the examples of gendered violence reinforce the stereotype of men as aggressive and sexually dominant. Immediately before beating Rosemary, Mr. Almond yells, “you don’t have sex with me…” (65). The critical point is that he throws the blow after his statement. Mr. Almond is not only domestically abusing his wife, but also justifying his actions by complaining about lack of sex. This gives the impression that men are entitled to sex and can use force to obtain it. In both this example and Evey’s rapes, men are portrayed as tools that must have sex and have no self-control while the females are helpless against the men. These interactions create a strong message about the society that men require sex and that gender violence is acceptable to achieve it. V, while still a male by sex , undertakes the characteristics of an androgynous individual. V is portrayed as flat chested, but his wig is much too long to be a stereotypical man’s hair. All of his skin is covered, and there is no way to identify the sex or gender of the person within simply by looking at them. One of the advantages of the graphic novel is the aid of these visuals without any audio. Unlike the film, there is no masculine voice to expose V’s sex. Until Evey asks V if he is her father, the audience is given no concrete information as to V’s biological sex. Even with the information that V is a male, V has a very ambiguous gender performance. V is particular about hunting down those directly involved in the Larkhill concentration camp. The men who led the camp are killed off through violent injuries, but V injects a painless poison into Surridge, who is a woman, to greet her death peacefully. It is also interesting to note that Prothero, a man who had a hand in Larkhill, was not killed, but instead driven madly insane. Although not a female, Prothero participated in distinctly feminine activities such as he “collected dolls” (19). He is not ashamed of this knowledge and shares it with his colleagues, consequently being the only one of them to survive. V does participate in the killing of both men and women, but he functions outside of society by intentionally not inflicting unnecessary gender violence towards women. V violates the society’s stereotypical need for men to have sex. After the first time V adopts and teaches Evey, Evey asks him why he hasn’t expressed sexual interest in her. V is dancing closely with her, both enjoying each other’s company, but Evey does not understand why he has not yet taken advantage of her. She goes so far as to blurt out, “or… uh… perhaps you don’t sort of fancy women,” believing that homosexuality might be the reason he would not sleep with her. (96). The society Evey grew up in had sexualized women so much so that it did not occur to her that V sees Evey as more than a body. V is looking for somebody to take up the cause once he dies, but Evey “can’t be a revolutionary if she sees herself as an object for men” (R. Richards, personal communication, January 25, 2013). Evey’s question towards V regarding sexual interest prompts V to radically abandon her without warning. It is radical abandonment in that he doesn’t tell her where they are going, why she’s blindfolded, or even that he’s abandoning her. She’s left alone on an empty street with nobody for support. The desolation of this abandonment is evident through the wide panoramas devoid of people on the top and bottom of pages 99 and 100, respectively. The world Evey had become comfortable with is taken away from her, and a wide void filled with confusion takes its place. V does this intentionally to shake Evey from her contentment with the world and its social constructions. V’s methods are successful—Evey is the only female throughout the graphic novel to defy the male-dominated society by wielding power . While not a recognized position of authority, Evey becomes the figurehead of a huge movement. She does not function within the society, but still has a huge amount of agency. She reflects after V’s death, “you did show me your will… and I’m sole beneficiary” (262). V leaves Evey the Shadow Gallery and, more importantly, an idea. Evey has inherited freedom from the system, and is no longer viewed as the hyper-sexualized object she was earlier in the book. The supporting women in the novel attempt to gain power through the gender binary, consequently subjecting themselves to men. When Mr. Almond dies, the government takes his money and Rosemary is left with nothing for her inheritance. Rosemary survives through dancing and showing herself off to the society as a highly sexualized object. Rosemary does possess a fleeting power when she procures a handgun from a man and assassinates the leader, but she is quickly taken away by officials. Rosemary is still functioning within the society and does not achieve any lasting agency. Helen is another strong female character that, while appearing to have power and influence, is still stuck within the gender performance society expects of her. Helen is very sexually dominant in her relationship with Conrad, a government official, and uses her sexuality to her advantage. Through her body, Helen is able to manipulate Conrad into acting out her decisions. Helen is a strong, power thirsty woman, but she is still leaning on Conrad to hold the position of power for her. As long as she is stuck in her gender identity, she won’t be able to hold real authority or power. Evey’s transformation provides further evidence that the movement knows no gender. In “jail,” Evey’s head was shaved and she was dressed in a gender-neutral rag. V explains the experience to her: “they offered you a choice between the death of your principles and the death of your body. You said you’d rather die. You faced the fear of your own death, and you were calm and still” (171). Evey was willing to lay down her life for her integrity. In that moment of rebirth, Evey discovered that she can live outside of her body and the restrictions the world had placed on it. Evey came to value something greater than herself, than her body: an idea. Evey and V are able to pose a threat to the fascist regime because they are “more embodied by their ideas than their body” (T. Mork, personal communication, January 25, 2013). When V dies, Evey is confronted with a decision. She is extremely tempted to take off the mask—to see who V really is. The graphic novel provides pages of images and conclusions as Evey plays out in her mind who V could be, struggling to come up with the right answer. Each of the frames in these scenarios are identical, with 3 panels per line and each the same size. After seeing her past self behind the mask and knowing how much she has changed, Evey comes to an understanding. “I know who V must be” (250). As the realization dawns on her, the frames finally break from their solid structure, and Evey’s smile is drawn out over a wider panel for emphasis. Despite Evey not being the same sex as V, she dons the cloak and Guy Fawkes mask, appears before the people of England, and manages to whip them into a frenzy. From the illustrations of her in the outfit, she looks exactly like V. She has not let her sex overcome her and has rewritten her gender identity outside of the society’s social constructions. Works Cited Moore, Alan, David Lloyd, Steve Whitaker, and Siobhan Dodds. V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 2005. Print. V For Vendetta. Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Hugo Weaving & Natalie Portman. Warner Home Video, 2006. DVD.